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A global Islamic Radio StationTue, 10 Sep 2019 12:19:39 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.11A global Islamic Radio StationConflict – Cii RadioA global Islamic Radio StationConflict – Cii Radiohttp://ciiradio.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpghttp://ciiradio.com
House passes resolution to withdraw US support in Yemenhttp://ciiradio.com/2019/04/05/house-passes-resolution-to-withdraw-us-support-in-yemen/
http://ciiradio.com/2019/04/05/house-passes-resolution-to-withdraw-us-support-in-yemen/#respondFri, 05 Apr 2019 08:21:21 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1746505 April 2019| 28 Rajab 1440| Middle East Monitor The House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday to end American support for the war in Yemen, offering another rebuke to US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, Anadolu Agency reports. The measure passed by a 243-176 vote with bipartisan support but is likely to be vetoed by Trump. […]

The House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday to end American support for the war in Yemen, offering another rebuke to US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, Anadolu Agency reports.

The measure passed by a 243-176 vote with bipartisan support but is likely to be vetoed by Trump.

The legislation was introduced in the Senate, co-sponsored by presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, invoking the War Powers resolution, a federal law that gives Congress the power to check the president when committing the US to an armed conflict.

This resolution will now be sent to Trump’s desk, and it will be the first time in US history that a president will be presented with such a resolution.

“Today we took a clear stand against war and famine and for Congress’ war powers by voting to end our complicity in the war in Yemen,” Sanders said. “This is just the beginning of a national debate over when and where we go to war and Congress’ authority over those interventions.”

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2019/04/05/house-passes-resolution-to-withdraw-us-support-in-yemen/feed/02018 deadliest year yet for Syrian children: UNhttp://ciiradio.com/2019/03/11/2018-deadliest-year-yet-for-syrian-children-un/
http://ciiradio.com/2019/03/11/2018-deadliest-year-yet-for-syrian-children-un/#respondMon, 11 Mar 2019 18:40:04 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1711011 March 2019| 03 Rajab 2019| Al Jazeera Last year was the deadliest yet for children in Syria, the United Nations has said, issuing a dire warning as the devastating war is about to enter its ninth year. UNICEF, the world body’s children’s agency, said in a statement on Monday it had been able to […]

Last year was the deadliest yet for children in Syria, the United Nations has said, issuing a dire warning as the devastating war is about to enter its ninth year.

UNICEF, the world body’s children’s agency, said in a statement on Monday it had been able to verify 1,106 child deaths from fighting in 2018 – the highest annual toll since the conflict broke out in 2011.

It warned, however, that the true figure was likely to be even higher.

“Today there exists an alarming misconception that the conflict in Syria is drawing quickly to a close – it is not,” executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

“Children in parts of the country remain in as much danger as at any other time during the eight-year conflict.”

The biggest cause of child casualties was unexploded ordnance, which accounted for 434 deaths and injuries last year, UNICEF said.

Syria’s war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven millions out of the country.

Turkey and Russia, one of the Syrian government’s staunchest allies, brokered a deal in September to create a demilitarised zone in the northwest Idlib region that would be free of all heavy weapons and fighters.

The deal helped avert a government assault on the region, the last major bastion of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

But Fore said she was concerned about the intensification of violence in Idlib, where 59 children have been reported killed in recent weeks.

“UNICEF again reminds parties to the conflict and the global community that it is the country’s children who have suffered most and have the most to lose. Each day the conflict continues is another day stolen from their childhood,” said Fore.

Since January, about 60 children have died trying to get to al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, which is now home to more than 65,000 people fleeing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) , according to the UN.

Thousands have flooded al-Hol camp as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) lay siege to the last vestige of ISIL’s territorial rule at the besieged village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

“Syria is still one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child, with ongoing violence, insecurity and displacement,” said Caroline Anning, spokeswoman for Save the Children.

“Even where conflict has subsided, the risk from explosive remnants of war like landmines and cluster munitions is growing.”

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2019/03/11/2018-deadliest-year-yet-for-syrian-children-un/feed/0WHO: 24.4 million in Yemen need humanitarian assistancehttp://ciiradio.com/2019/01/18/who-24-4-million-in-yemen-need-humanitarian-assistance/
http://ciiradio.com/2019/01/18/who-24-4-million-in-yemen-need-humanitarian-assistance/#respondFri, 18 Jan 2019 12:46:56 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1666918 January 2019| 12 Jumadul Ulaa 1440|Middle East Monitor The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that 24.4 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, 80 per cent of the country’s 28-million-strong population. Writing on Twitter, the WHO said that “while Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, the situation is […]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that 24.4 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance, 80 per cent of the country’s 28-million-strong population.

Writing on Twitter, the WHO said that “while Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, the situation is getting worse year by year. By the end of 2018, 24.4 million Yemenis – 80% of the total population – were in need of humanitarian assistance”.

On Sunday, the WHO announced that millions of Yemeni children continue to suffer in what has been called the greatest humanitarian crisis ever, pointing out that 45 per cent of health facilities in the country are out of service. Further, 16.6 million people lack water and sanitation services.

For nearly four years, Yemen has witnessed fierce fighting between forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Houthi militants, who control several provinces including the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Two civilians were killed and six others were wounded in a camp for displaced people, Youssef said.

Following a meeting on Sept. 17, 2018 in the Russian city of Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone — in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited — in Syria’s Idlib province.

According to the terms of the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing a resumption of fighting.

On Oct. 10, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that the Syrian opposition and other anti-regime groups had completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demilitarized zone.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2019/01/02/syrian-regime-attacks-idlib-in-violation-of-sochi-deal/feed/0United Nations: Yemen needs more aid than Syria for first timehttp://ciiradio.com/2018/12/06/united-nations-yemen-needs-more-aid-than-syria-for-first-time/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/12/06/united-nations-yemen-needs-more-aid-than-syria-for-first-time/#respondThu, 06 Dec 2018 05:47:28 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1640106 December 2018| 28 Rabi ul Awwal 1440|Middle East Monitor The United Nations said on Tuesday that Yemen will need more humanitarian aid than Syria for the first time next year, 2019. A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the international organization needs more than $4 […]

The United Nations said on Tuesday that Yemen will need more humanitarian aid than Syria for the first time next year, 2019.

A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the international organization needs more than $4 billion to provide basic aid to Yemen in 2019 compared to $3.5 billion needed for Syria.

“The situation in Yemen has dramatically deteriorated and is rapidly worsening,” it said, noting that a majority of the population is facing food deficit.

More than one-third of the country’s 24 million people suffer from extreme poverty, the report said.

According to the report, facing humanitarian crises in various parts of the world next year will require $ 25 billion.

For years Syria ranked first in terms of receiving UN humanitarian aid.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2018/12/06/united-nations-yemen-needs-more-aid-than-syria-for-first-time/feed/0Yemen crisis: 85,000 children ‘dead from malnutrition’http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/21/yemen-crisis-85000-children-dead-from-malnutrition/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/21/yemen-crisis-85000-children-dead-from-malnutrition/#respondWed, 21 Nov 2018 12:47:23 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1623921 November 2018| 13 Rabi ul Awwal 1440| An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from acute malnutrition in three years of war in Yemen, a leading charity says. The number is equivalent to the entire under-five population in the UK’s second largest city of Birmingham, Save the Children adds. […]

An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from acute malnutrition in three years of war in Yemen, a leading charity says.

The number is equivalent to the entire under-five population in the UK’s second largest city of Birmingham, Save the Children adds.

It is trying to revive talks to end a three-year war which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.Yemen has been devastated by the conflict. Fighting escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched an air campaign against the Houthi rebel movement which had forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

At least 6,800 civilians have been killed and 10,700 injured in the war, according to the UN. The fighting and a partial blockade by the coalition have also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, created the world’s largest food security emergency, and led to a cholera outbreak that has affected 1.2 million people.

CURRENT DEATH TOLL

It is difficult to get an exact number of deaths. Aid workers in Yemen say many go unreported because only half of the country’s health facilities are functioning and many people are too poor to access the ones that remain open.

Save the Children says it based its figures on mortality rates for untreated cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition in children under five from data compiled by the UN. According to conservative estimates, it calculated that around 84,700 children may have died between April 2015 and October 2018.

Rising food prices and the falling value of the country’s currency as a result of a civil war are putting more families at risk of food insecurity.

The UK-based charity blames the blockade for putting more people at risk of famine, with continued heavy fighting around the principal lifeline port of Hudaydah further exacerbating the situation.

The rebel-held port, through which the country has traditionally imported 90% of its food, has seen commercial imports fall by more than 55,000 metric tonnes a month, the charity says. This is enough to meet the needs of 4.4m people, including 2.2m children, it adds.

MALNOURISHED CHILDREN

The charity says that based on historical studies, if acute malnutrition is left untreated, around 20-30% of children will die each year.

“For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death and it’s entirely preventable,” its Yemen director, Tamer Kirolos, says.

“Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop. Their immune systems are so weak they are more prone to infections with some too frail to even cry.

“Parents have to witness their children wasting away, unable to do anything about it.”

He further warned that an estimated 150,000 children’s lives were endangered in Hudaydah with “a dramatic increase” in air strikes over the city in recent weeks.

THREAT OF FAMINEJust last month, the UN warned that half the population of the war-torn country was facing “pre-famine conditions”.

A country has to meet the following criteria to be declared in famine: At least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food More than 30% of children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition At least two people out of every 10,000 are dying every day

The UN said – based on assessments from a year ago – the first two thresholds had either been exceeded or was dangerously close in 107 of Yemen’s 333 districts. But the third threshold about numbers of deaths was more difficult to confirm. The organisation is currently repeating the assessments.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/21/yemen-crisis-85000-children-dead-from-malnutrition/feed/0Battle for Hodeidah ‘threatens lives’ of 59 children in hospitalhttp://ciiradio.com/2018/11/07/battle-for-hodeidah-threatens-lives-of-59-children-in-hospital/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/07/battle-for-hodeidah-threatens-lives-of-59-children-in-hospital/#respondWed, 07 Nov 2018 10:28:01 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1587307 November 2018| 28 Safar 1440| Al Jazeera The battle for the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen has placed dozens of children in a hospital “at imminent risk of death”, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency (UNICEF). The urgent warning on Tuesday came amid reports of fierce clashes between pro-government forces, which are […]

The battle for the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen has placed dozens of children in a hospital “at imminent risk of death”, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency (UNICEF).

The urgent warning on Tuesday came amid reports of fierce clashes between pro-government forces, which are backed by a Saudi-UAE-led military coalition, and Houthi rebels near the strategic Red Sea port, where hundreds of thousands of civilians could be trapped as war closes in.

“Intense fighting in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah is now dangerously close to al-Thawra hospital – putting the lives of 59 children, including 25 in the intensive care unit, at imminent risk of death,” UNICEF said in a statement.

The agency said that medical staff and patients in the hospital in southern Hodeidah city, just 500 metres from the port, heard heavy bombing and gunfire.

“Access to and from the hospital, the only functioning one in the area, is now imperilled,” it said.

The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthis, who toppled the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-UAE-led alliance, which is backed by the United States, intervened in 2015 in the form of a massive air campaign aimed at reinstalling Hadi’s government.

In June, the coalition launched a new offensive to retake Hodeidah, held by the Houthis since 2014.

The city is the main portal for humanitarian aid to the suffering population of Yemen, where famine looms over 14 million people – half of the country’s population – and a child dies every 10 minutes, according to the UN.

“The toll in lives could be catastrophic if the port is damaged, destroyed or blocked,” UNICEF said.

The Saudi-UAE coalition has imposed a blockade on the port, allegedly as part of efforts to prevent the Houthis from using it as a landing point for weapons supplied by Iran – an accusation denied by both the rebels and Tehran.

Rights groups are also warning that the worst could be yet to come in Hodeidah.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said: “As fighting intensifies in Hodeidah, MSF is concerned for patients and staff at

Al-Salakhana hospital and for thousands of residents who remain in the city.

“All parties to the conflict must ensure that civilians and facilities such as hospitals are protected in Yemen,” the aid group said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Refugee Council on Monday warned fighting and air attacks in Hodeidah threatened “to further deteriorate civilians’ access to safety and aid”.

Save the Children has reported almost 100 air raids counted by its staff at the weekend – five times as many as in the whole first week of October.

The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen is now home to what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

According to the UN, at least 10,000 people have been killed since the coalition entered the conflict.

The death toll has not been updated in years, however, and is likely to be far higher – the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an independent watchdog, recently said around 56,000 Yemenis had been killed in the violence.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/07/battle-for-hodeidah-threatens-lives-of-59-children-in-hospital/feed/0UN: Syrians need ‘psychological reconstruction’http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/06/un-syrians-need-psychological-reconstruction/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/06/un-syrians-need-psychological-reconstruction/#respondTue, 06 Nov 2018 11:02:05 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1581506 November 2018| 27 Safar 1440| Middle East Monitor UN Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said yesterday that the most important thing needed for Syrians is “psychological and social reconstruction”. Speaking at the World Youth Forum, which is being held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, De Mistura said: “There is a […]

UN Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said yesterday that the most important thing needed for Syrians is “psychological and social reconstruction”.

Speaking at the World Youth Forum, which is being held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, De Mistura said: “There is a proxy war in Syria with five countries’ militarily involved, in addition to ISIS [Daesh]; this contributed to a complex situation in the country making terrorism the most beneficial party from this situation.”

“It is very easy to start a war but very hard difficult to achieve peace.”

De Mistura revealed that a large number of the European countries are willing to be involved in the reconstruction of Syria as soon as the war is ended.

The UN envoy to Syria added: “The Syrians do not want to remain refugees. They want to go back home, but at the same time they want to feel that there is a political process that makes them feel safe.”

In addition, he said: “The most important thing needed for Syrians is the psychological and social reconstruction,” as the war has taken the lives of many of their relatives and loved ones.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/06/un-syrians-need-psychological-reconstruction/feed/0EU renews call for ‘political solution’ in Yemenhttp://ciiradio.com/2018/11/02/eu-renews-call-for-political-solution-in-yemen/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/02/eu-renews-call-for-political-solution-in-yemen/#respondFri, 02 Nov 2018 10:51:26 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1574602 November 2018|23 Safar 1440|Middle East Monitor The European Union (EU) yesterday reiterated its support to the United Nations (UN)’s efforts to find a political solution in Yemen. “We support the UN-led process on stopping the conflict in Yemen and resume the peace process,” the EU’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, Maja Kocijančič, […]

The European Union (EU) yesterday reiterated its support to the United Nations (UN)’s efforts to find a political solution in Yemen.

“We support the UN-led process on stopping the conflict in Yemen and resume the peace process,” the EU’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, Maja Kocijančič, told reports at a press conference which was held at the Belgium capital of Brussels.

“The only solution for the conflict in Yemen is a political solution,” Kocijančič stressed, adding: “We have been very vocal when it came to the humanitarian side of this conflict, where 12 million people face a terrible famine.”

The EU official’s comments came in response to a statement made by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who on Tuesday called for a halt to the hostilities in Yemen and said that the UN-led negotiations to end the civil war should begin “next month.”

In August, Kocijančič said that the tragic incidents in Yemen “remind the world, once again, that there is no military solution in a conflict where Yemeni people are paying the highest toll,” referring to a Saudi-led airstrike that had hit a bus in a densely populated area in the Yemeni province of Sa’ada, leaving scores of dead and injured, mostly children.

For nearly four years, Yemen has been battling a war between government forces and Houthi militants who have taken control of several provinces including the capital Sanaa, since 2014. An Arab military alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, has been supporting Yemeni government forces against the Houthis.

According to the UN, the conflict in Yemen has so far killed more than 10,000 people and caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The data also showed that three-quarters of Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, require aid and 8.4 million people are on the brink of starvation.

]]>http://ciiradio.com/2018/11/02/eu-renews-call-for-political-solution-in-yemen/feed/0War and poverty force destitute Yemeni to build home in a treehttp://ciiradio.com/2018/10/11/war-and-poverty-force-destitute-yemeni-to-build-home-in-a-tree/
http://ciiradio.com/2018/10/11/war-and-poverty-force-destitute-yemeni-to-build-home-in-a-tree/#respondThu, 11 Oct 2018 12:28:43 +0000http://ciiradio.com/?p=1531611 October 2018|01 Safar 1440|Arab news Yemeni Ahmed Houbeichi is not acting out some childhood fantasy when he peers down on the street below from his tree-house. War and poverty have forced him to seek out such a lofty shelter. Wearing a red shirt, white turban, and a loincloth around his hips, the 29-year-old recounted […]

Yemeni Ahmed Houbeichi is not acting out some childhood fantasy when he peers down on the street below from his tree-house. War and poverty have forced him to seek out such a lofty shelter.

Wearing a red shirt, white turban, and a loincloth around his hips, the 29-year-old recounted how he lost everything, and how his country’s dragging war has left him homeless and destitute.

Just a few months ago, he ran a small grocery store, “but the prices went up and the debts accumulated,” he said.

He would sell items to customers on credit, but they could not pay him back as the cost of living increased when the local currency depreciated amid a collapsing economy.

Indebted, bankrupt and unable to pay the rent for his shop where he also lived, Houbeichi found himself without a roof over his head in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

A four-year war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, has resulted in severe food shortages in a country already considered the poorest in the Arab world.

“I was late on the rent by only one month, which made the owner angry, so he asked me to leave,” Houbeichi said.

“He kicked me out. He threw my stuff onto the street. I felt ashamed, everybody was watching me as if I was an insane person.”

It was then he hit on the idea of living in a weeping fig growing on the busy Street 30 in rebel-held Sanaa.

His new home among the leaves has a door made of left-over wood from his old shop, while sheets and blankets draped between the branches provide both a makeshift roof and a soft platform on which to perch.

There are a couple of pillows, and some bags hold his few possessions. And he easily clambers up and down.

“It’s better than being on the street, and no one comes to you asking for rent,” said Houbeichi wryly.

A small solar panel provides some electricity, and the little money he makes monitoring children playing at a foosball table is just enough for food.

“There is no work. I hardly earn any money from the games center, and work is going to get worse because school started and the students returned to class,” he said.

“It just enough for food, for one meal a day.”

More than 22 million Yemenis – three quarters of the population – are in need of food aid.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Yemen’s economy is expected to contract by 2.6 percent in 2018, while inflation has been projected at 42 percent — inevitably leading to higher unemployment rates.

Houbeichi’s struggle is not uncommon as the war has pushed millions to the brink of famine.

Jalal Qasim, 45, teaches Arabic at a school in the southwestern city of Taiz by day and sells gasoline on the black market by night.

“It’s a very distressing situation,” he said, adding a teacher’s salary “isn’t enough for his personal expenses, let alone his family expenses, like rent.”

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed and more than 56,000 injured since 2015, resulting in what the UN has called the worst humanitarian crisis.